GENII MAGAZINE - 1965

APPLAUSE AND BABY'S BOTTLES

At the time Genii Magazine published this front cover (October 1965) Fantasio was performing at the Desert Inn Hotel in Las Vegas. He was already a renowned magician, whose career was followed with attention by magic lovers, professionals and producers.

"Our contract with the Desert Inn Hotel run for almost two years, 1964 and 1965, with a show called Hello America, produced by Frank Senes and choreographed by Don Arden", recalls Fantasio.

But besides being a successful magic act, Fantasio and Monica were a young couple that had recently had a baby, "Our daughter Jackie was born in New York and traveled to Las Vegas when she was only 20 days old",

Was it possible to combine the life of the show business stars of Las Vegas with the life of the young parents? "At that time", remembers Fantasio, "we had to perform every day in two or three shows, without any day off. We had to be at the theatre every day of the week at 7:00PM because the first show begun at 8:00PM. And that schedule was strict: each and every performance begun at 8:00PM, The second show was around midnight. Both shows were 2 hours long and we performed 30 minutes before the end, But I had to stay to change my clothes and be ready for the curtain call with the rest of the company; there were over 100 artists",

That rhythm was obviously complicated to keep a normal family life, moreover with a 2 months baby.

"Those days when we had two sows, we came back home at 2:30 AM. But on Fridays and Saturdays we had three shows and came back at 4:30 AM. That means that we left home usually short after 6:30 PM, because we lived really close to the theatre, and came back late at night, It's easy to deduce that we spent maybe more time at the dressing room than at home".

How was it possible to give baby Jackie a normal environment taking into consideration this stressing schedule? Well, the solution shows that Fantasio is not only a brilliant creative mind when it comes to magic.

"Fortunately we had a huge dressing room with a closet, private toilet and very good lighting. And so we bought everything double so that Jackie wouldn't miss home: two play-pens, two high chairs, double set of toys, etc."

Fantasio remembers that "when we went downstairs to perform, the dancers came to our dressing room ready for the next act and after our performance we ran upstairs for the relay. For the curtain call I went on stage alone and Monica stayed with Jackie".

So while the famous show biz couple Fantasio & Monica were entertaining audiences with their magic and gathering applause, a baby was playing with her duplicate rattle in the dressing room of one of the biggest casinos of Las Vegas,

A small behind-the-scenes story, as told by Fantasio,

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